Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting blr in 450 marlin

I just can,t see why the 450 marlin caliber is not more popular,as a dark timber elk rifle.
IM growing very fond of mine after several months of range time, so fond I sold my old 45/70 thats been used for decades, and accounted for several elk, with zero worry that the 450 marlin blr won,t prove to be its equal or superior.
yes IM a gun loonie and yes I spend a great deal of time at the range, in fact I try to go at least twice a month minimum.
look the 450 marlin BLR is basically a lever action rifle cartridge that provides the user with awesome power levels in a fast repeat action with a reasonable trajectory that will handle anything in big game hunting out to about 250-300 yards in skilled hands and easily 70%-80% or more of ALL big games killed at less distance, load this cartridge up with hard cast bullets in the 350-400 grain weight range and you duplicate some of the hot loads that most guys use in modern 45/70s, accuracy's usually very good, penetration and stopping powers great, so whats not to like here? yes IM aware that the 450 marlins basically a duplicate of the 45/70 with hot hand loads,thats basically true, but the fact remains that the browning BLR is a stronger locking bolt system than a marlin and the 450 marlin caliber is available in a BLR while the 45/70 is not!
now Ive owned both and still own the 450 marlin BLR, the BLR is a GREAT choice in my opinion, and getting 1900 fps form a 400 grain hard cast slug in a BLR is just not that difficult and makes it a really effective ELK rifle for the thick timber, Ive used the 45/70 to kill ELK and the 450 marlin is SLIGHTLY superior in my opinion in both accuracy and speed of hitting the target (ease of handling) I know its going as my back-up thick timber rifle next year.
its been many years since Ive killed an elk at ranges over 250 yards so its not likely the trajectory is to be a handy-cap in any place I hunt
YES IM AWARE THE 7MM MAG AND 300 MAG GUYS MIGHT BE HAVING A CONNIPTION FIT, but the truth is wither they admit it or not that 250-300 yards is about the max range most games shot at.
if youve ever seen a well placed hit from a 350-405 grain 45 cal slug launched at about 1800fps or more on deer or elk, you know how effective they can be!

the BLR has front dual cam locking bolt similar to any normal bolt action vs the marlins rear locking single locking lug

The BLR is not really a lever action. It might be described as a bolt action operated with a lever. The fore section of the bolt rotates and locks as a bolt action would. Some would say this system makes the action stronger than Marlin,
the best load IVE found so far in my BLR is 50 grains of IMR 3031 over a 215 federal primer and using a 405 rem bullet, off a good rest, and firing slowly with a 4x scope I've found 1" 3 shot hundred yard groups are usually easy.
now to be totally honest recoil is similar too my 375 H&H carbine but its not really objectionable in my opinion, and no its not the ideal universal elk rifle, but youll have a hard time finding something better for still hunting the lodge pole and conifer covered canyon slopes where seeing anything much past 100-150 yards is rare


http://www.gunwalker.com/450marlin/handloading.html

Didn't Marlin kill the 450? I had a shot at a SS xlr in 450 and passed on it, it was on the shelf about three more hours after I left the shop.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/1895M.asp
they still sell them, but I compared my old marlin to my new BLR and sold my marlin 45/70 that the new BLR will replace, because the difference at least in my opinion of the quality between them,favors the BLR heavily, and Ive used that marlin 45/70 for 30 years
Im just glad I got some brass before the price nearly doubled

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/169536/hornady-reloading-brass-450-marlin-box-of-50

Never owned a BLR but the 450 Marlin/modern 45-70 is one of the most under estimated cartridges out there,even with heavy weight cast bullets.Take a 420 cast which I have been using at 1850 fps and your good to go without aiming above the animal to 250+ yards depending on your sight in.And it will shoot lengthwise through anything we hunt...

When my son and I hunt together,one of us always has the 45-70 Guide Gun.One of the best heavy timber/brush guns I have ever used.

Buffalo Bore sells 430 grain cast at 1930 fps for the 45-70 for those that don't reload.

Jayco

The only BLR I ever owned was a Belgian made rifle in .308.

It was heavier than a stone cold, dead pig, about as ugly and it shot poorly. Could have been just that gun so far as accuracy is concerned. The handling of the rifle did not work for me either, but I needed mulie rifle and quickly, so that was it. The BLR does nothing for me and I sold it for what I paid.

If ya like it - ya like it. But I'm glad to own an old Marlin (1893) that much much prefer.

I prefer the Marlin to the BLR. Marlins are made in USA and are less costly than the BLR. They are simpler and easier to maintain.

The BLR is not, and never will be, a bolt-action rifle. The reason is "primary extraction", or lack thereof. The BLR bolt appears similar to some multi-lug bolt rifles, such as the Weatherby Mark V, but there are no camming surfaces between bolt and receiver, and very little mechanical advantage on opening the lever. If fired cases are the least bit sticky, the BLR is very difficult to open without help from a ramrod.

In the end, both the Marlin and the BLR are lever-action rifles, complete with all the limitations that accompany such. That's not a bad thing, but it's definitely not a bolt-action.